Improvement in lacing-button hooks



y closed within it, as shown in Fig. S.

PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID HEAION, OF PROVIDENCE, RHODE ISLAND.

IMPROVEMENT IN LACING-BUTTON HOOKS.,

` Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 133,312, dated November 25, 1872.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID HEATON, of the city and county of Providence and State of Rhode Island, have invented a new and Im- .proved Lacing-Button Hook, of which the following is a specification, referring to the accompanying drawing making part ofthe same, in which- Figure l is a front elevation of my improved lacing-button hook; Fig. 2 is a side elevation, and Fig?) is a rear elevation, of the same; Fig. 4L is a plan 5 Fig. 5 is a vertical section by the line x a' of Fig. 1; Fig. 6 is a pla-n and cross-section by the line a a of Fig. l; Fig. 7 represents the outline of the sheet-metalblank, from which said lacing-button hook is made; and Fig. 8 is a diagram of a side elevationl of the button-hook, illustrating the eifect of the angle-brace a b o.

Similar letters mark like parts in all the iig,-

ures.

My invention relates to the combination of a hook with two fastening-pron gs in front and a button-head with a back-stay and a fastening-pron g at the rear of the hook, the object being to stiiIen the bend of the hook and provide a firm fastening both at the front and rear of the same in the apparel.

In the drawing, S is the hook, c e are the fasteningprongs in front, B is the buttonhead, I is the back-stay, and e3 the fasteningpron g at the rear. The said lacing-button hook is made from the blank, Fig. 7, cut from.

sheet metal. The hook S is formed by bending the long shank S of the blank, and the fastening-pron gs el e2 bybendingthe two point'- ed branches .e e of the shank S down at right angles. The button-head B is formed by concavmg the disk B of the blank and bending it over the hook. The back-stay I is the short shank Iof the blank bent at right angles with the button-head; and the narrower continuation c, below the shoulders t t of said shank, forms the rear fastening-prong e3. The button-head B and back-stay I, combined, form a surrounding angle-brace, a b c, which stiffens and supports the bend S of the hook thus in- The fastening-prongs c1 c2 e3 are put through the `material of the apparel and bent and clinched together on the under side, as shown in Fig. 8, to fasten the lacing-hook both at the front and rear. The fork f of the shank in front and the shoulders t t of the back-stay I at the rear form bearings on both sides of the hook S to keep it upright for lacing. v

The advantage of the rear-fastened backstay, combined with the button-head., is that it prevents the hook from yielding to be pulled out straight by the strain on the lacing. The advantage of the two fastening-prongs in front of the hook is that two are better able than one to withstand the direct strain of lacing, which depends almost wholly on the permanence of the front fastening. The advantage of the fastening in the rear, besides the fasty ening in front of the hook,fis that the rear is held iirmly in position to support the front fastf ening by preventing the hook from tipping backward, and thus releasing (or partly so) the hook from a direct bearing against its curve, as intended, with the effect to straighten out the hook and spoil it for the purpose so that another must be put in its place.

1In some cases, as in the larger sizes of but ton-hooks, three instead of two fasteningprongs may, with economy, be employed in front of the bend of the hook by arranging one .of great strength foremost in front, and two lesser ones a-t the sides of the shank, but always with the prong c3 at therear as the fourth, as a rear support and to give additional permanence to the other three as a fastening; but I prefer only three fastening-prongs, and that the three shall be arranged substantially as before described, because the fewer and the further separated these prongs the less liable they are to completely divide `the material of the apparel into which they are fastened, and

in consequence tear out under a severe strain. Having described my invention, I wish it understood that I am aware that lacing-button hooks of different constructions have been previously known and used. I therefore disclaim all other lacing devices than that embraced in the following construction, to wit: I claim The construct-ion of the curved lacing-hook S with a back-stay, I, extending from the button-head down at the rear of said hook, andy terminating in a fastening-pron g, e3, substantially as shown and described.

DAVID HEaToN. 

